How is one supposed to decide what is right and what is wrong? Do we draw upon our own experiences, what our parents taught us growing up, learning from mistakes we've made in the past, learning from other's mistakes, etc. Are we allowed to decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong? Or is it based on rules and regulations set up for us by the society we live in?
I believe in order to have an accurate view of ethics you need to be an observant person. Someone who is able to take in the environment around them, at any age/time period/culture, and apply a universal set of ethics to any situation.
What Americans believe to be basic human rights are not always considered so in other countries of the world. For example, discrimination based on gender and race is still a major influence on people's lives in third world countries, as well as in other places in the world. While in America women are able to vote freely, it is not uncommon for that right to be restricted to only males elsewhere in the world.
Is it proable to insist that there be a global set of ethics? Can we come together as human beings, even with differences in cultural values, language, government, and decide upon a basic idea of right and wrong? I don't see why not. While the definition of "right" can be subjective based on individual values and belief, there should still be a broader sense of "right and wrong" that can transcend to any person age, race, or gender.
I think back to my first 20 years in life and I try to define what I think is ethically correct, and I find it art to completely articulate my thoughts. How do you explain to someone what is right when they clearly object to your opinion? I may think that shaking someone's hand is the appropriate thing to do when being introduced to someone new, but in another country that might be regarded as disrespectful.
I believe that with all of the problems we face in the world today: economical issues, international relations issues, education policy, health care, natural disasters, a person's issues can and should be related to other people in the world on some sort of general standard. I believe that we can come together, as a people, and work to attain a global definition of right and wrong, and stick to it. I especially think this is true in our current generation with the increase in connectivity world wide via social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, even things like email, news broadcasts, etc. It is easier now than it ever was for a person to connect to someone else in a completely different area of the world...so why shouldn't we come together and act as one society?
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